If they were to use specialized development companies for each item, each would require a budget and an estimate of the time required in each case. But they would also have to dedicate one person from their own staff to manage the relationship with these three software development companies; and once the three developments are completed, it would have to do what is necessary to integrate the three technological solutions made by different firms.
Beyond the costs, which of course tend to increase when working with several companies, there is a major problem: deadlines. Having to interact with so many developers is likely to stretch timescales in a way that your business may not be able to cope with, as you will lose too many customers to your competitors.
If instead you decided to channel all developments through a single organization that has the capacity to do all three jobs with the same level of expertise, through different specialized agile teams operating with the same logic and dynamics, you would surely dramatically reduce the lead times, and also the energy required both in terms of human resources and costs, as there will be a single budget and a single counterpart to interact with, as there will also be a single budget and a single counterpart to interact with.
Process optimization
The great advantage of hiring a firm that can handle the development of different technological solutions in the framework of end-to-end (e2e) processes is that there are significant time savings, in addition to other benefits derived from having a single strategic partner who knows the business and works with similar practices and technologies, which will make the integration tasks much easier at the end of the job, as the various technological solutions will be designed to work together.
If your company is in the banking industry, the case can be even more compelling: many financial institutions hire their own programmers and design bespoke software from scratch, which can be very expensive; or alternatively they hire one firm to make the mobile app, another to develop the digital wallet and a third to build the website.
All of the above could be avoided by hiring a firm prepared to undertake end-to-end development for the financial services market, through well-trained agile teams.
Diving deeper
In projects, there is another key factor: it is not only the supplier’s ability to cover the development of different solutions or to solve different business processes that counts. Today, it is essential for deeper questioning into the response of a need posed by the company.
For example, if the analysis of a problem reveals the need to implement an app for supermarket customers to use in a physical shop, it will not only be necessary to develop the tool, but also to run campaigns to get people to install it on their devices and learn how to use it. In the same way, it will be necessary to offer support and take care of the improvements that are suggested in the marketplace and incorporate them. In addition, it will be necessary to propose an infrastructure that allows the app to function correctly, define the experience that this digital product must provide to achieve the objectives set and take care of aspects related to the user experience, among many other details.
Following this line, the reasoning a provider with a deep end-to-end vision would be to approach an organization and state the following: “Your company has this business problem and, in order to attack it, you need to work on this problem. As part of this, you would have to redefine processes, develop an application, make a cultural change, maintain the development, and then analyze what happens with your end customer…”. In other words, the service consists of an in-depth vision, and this is important because projects are often complex, and if this is not accounted for, mistakes can be made.
Optimization of resources
The advantages of end-to-end development, versus handling projects separately, are clear. End to end is more economical and efficient. It also saves valuable time. At the same time, moving forward with the end to end vision allows for in depth business problem solving posed by the organization.
Eend-to-end service providers have the ability to offer a large part of the development services an organization needs in a single, comprehensive package, and can even create an optimized, cost-effective package that is tailored to the business.
In this way, by engaging an end-to-end partner, you can interact with a firm that will come to understand the deep workings of your organization that will as a result be able to provide “unique value and customized services for the business”. In addition to the great benefit of working with only one single point of contact for customer service and technical support.
Production Optimization
In the software world, the term end-to-end solution is used to describe a system that addresses a large part of the needs and processes of a business, end-to-end (e2e) not only along the value chain but also going deep into every aspect as if it were an iceberg that is addressed from its tip, all the way down to the the submerged zone.
We can therefore conclude that end-to-end solutions offer several advantages:
- Improved operational efficiency: an integrated system from a single vendor enables process and production optimization to drive better performance and move forward with greater automation; and can also increase data security.
- Lower costs, by having to pay a single supplier for a batch of services.
- Faster problem resolution, as you know exactly who to call to report an issue.
This approach will also allow the company to better monitor the process “from the planning stage through to the execution stage, ensuring that the project produces the desired results”.
Digital products
Often end-to-end vendors handle all the hardware and software for a system, including installation, implementation and maintenance. And in such a situation an end-to-end solution could cover everything from the customer interface to data storage.
But in your company (bank or supermarket, for example) you may not need a solution that solves all aspects of the business, but you may for example need to develop digital products to handle customer interactions and deliver the best customer experiences.
In their case, the solution provider will strive to offer fully functional tools and services to handle the digital interaction. In this circumstance the end-to-end approach can also help to save time and productivity, and ultimately better meet customer demands. It can also “create more clarity and transparency for the organization, as only one supplier is responsible for the end-to-end process”.
e2e processes
End-to-end solutions adhere to a philosophy that eliminates as many intermediate layers or steps as possible, which helps optimize a company’s performance and efficiency.
Often the end-to-end provider will offer support at the configuration of a product. And then they will offer ongoing support services (including troubleshooting, upgrade assistance and day-to-day operational support). In this case, the project will be handled by a single vendor, working from start to finish, without the direct involvement of any other third party. It will include installation, integration, and configuration.
Choosing end-to-end suppliers is not an easy task: it is important that it is a company of a certain size and resources, and the reality is that it is not easy to find such partners. But despite all these difficulties, it is worth the effort. At Baufest, we distinguish ourselves as allies of the companies for this task with the certainty that we can address the challenges and meet the objectives set.
At this point, you will surely want to know how Baufest handles end to end strategies, and what differential value we can bring to your company? Our focus is on accelerating the release of digital products. And one of our strengths is to put together a minimum viable product (MVP), i.e. a first version of these solutions. During the evolution of the projects, we make proactive proposals based on a business problem: in this way, the client’s activity ends up improving in ways that they had not initially considered, thanks to our experience of having worked with similar companies before.
Not only do we address the resolution of different processes, through the development of different technological solutions, but we work with the idea of solving our client’s needs in to their fullest extent, addressing all the instances and issues involved.
Consolidating all the technological needs of the organization in a partner such as Baufest, which is able to deal with end-to-end developments in depth, will simplify and facilitate project management. It will save time and will also reduce the possibility of a system having security breaches. It will also create the conditions for future improvements and the scaling of future developments.